Sports medicine specialists see rise in trampoline related injuires

MIAMI, Fla. - In an instant, a day of fun at a trampoline park turned into a trip to the emergency room for 12-year-old Sherri Zeitun.

"It happened so fast I couldn't even stand on it," she said.

"They were jumping with other kids we don't know if the same age and a kid jumped on her and that's it, the leg broke," explained Sherri's mom Raquel Zeitun.

Sports Medicine Specialist Dr. Eric Eisner says it's an all too common occurrence, especially with the advent of trampoline parks.

"You have a bunch of kids all different sizes where they're doing activities that aren't just jumping up and down on the trampoline," he said.

Eisner says he is seeing an increase in upper and lower extremity fractures and sprains.

"You're taking kids who - as they're growing they're coordination is developing - then you're asking them as they're playing dodge ball or basketball they're jumping up and down and trying to do tricks and it's just a set up for injuries," he warned.

And sometimes those injuries can be severe.

"Somersaults, flips, kids falling off of a trampoline leading to cervical spine injuries, paralysis concussions,"Eisner added.

It took a screw to repair the fracture to Sherri's tibia, but she suffered no damage to her growth plate.

"I feel like nothing happened," said Sherri. "I'm back to normal and I can do everything like nothing happened."

She is back oln the trampoline but now under her parents' close supervision.

Along with proper supervision, sports medicine specialists say ideally only one child should be on a trampoline at a time. If that's not possible, make sure kids are the same size and do not permit acrobatic moves with more than one user.

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